Lost and found: Tipton County officer 'tried to remain calm' in Shelby Forest

Tipton County corrections officer Bill Lawrence is consoled by his wife, Kim, and congratulated by Sheriff J.T. "Pancho" Chumley during a news conference Wednesday when Lawrence talked about being lost for days in Meeman Shelby Forest State Park.

As storms approached, the helicopters flying over Meeman Shelby Forest State Park stopped on Friday.

Bill Lawrence, 38, tied his white T-shirt to the end of his shotgun and waved it like a flag.

But still, Lawrence admitted at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, he thought that by Friday night the search for him was over.

Taking cover under trees, the Tipton County corrections officer caught rainwater in his hunting vest and "tried to remain calm," he said.

He'd been lost for three days, and it would be two more until his feet finally found pavement.

Lawrence became separated from his friends while squirrel hunting Aug. 31, wearing military-issued camouflage pants and a jacket, a bucket hat and snake boots. He said he lost sight of his two hunting buddies while chasing a squirrel and became alarmed when his shots were the only ones he could hear. He turned around to look for his friends, then tried to find their truck.

"This is when I got turned around," he said.

He didn't have a cellphone on him, but it wouldn't have mattered as there is no service in the depths of the park. He said he drank muddy water and ate worms to survive.

"The water source was nasty," he recounted. "I was drinking muddy water ... eating worms. Yeah, I'd seen that on TV. I ate worms."

With a heat index above 100 degrees for most of the five days he was lost in the 13,000-acre forest, he said he spent his time searching for food and water.

"I knew I had a long way to go," he said. "I didn't know where I was. ... The woods so thick, the way sound travels. You didn't know what direction to go."

He didn't know a massive, countywide hunt stretched on for 119 hours until he was found. It was the longest search conducted in the state park in at least 20 years, and possibly ever, according to Park Manager Steve Smith.

The teams went out on foot, with dogs, on horses and in all-terrain vehicles, boats, police vehicles and helicopters. The foliage was so dense that some of the searchers were knocked off their horses, Smith said.

"Everything was against him from the very beginning," Smith added, noting the helicopter spotters' inability to penetrate the forest canopy, the extreme heat and drought.

Armed with his shotgun, 15 shells, 2 bottles of water, a flashlight, a can of Deep Woods Off bug spray, a squirrel call and a can of dipping tobacco, Lawrence survived longer "than anyone expected," he said.

He shot his gun whenever he thought he heard someone. His shotgun shells ran out Saturday, and by Sunday he said he threw the gun down, too weak to carry it.

Lawrence reached the highway about three miles from where he started, but estimated that he covered about 35 miles weaving back and forth in misdirection.

Two rescue crews were within 400 yards of him, according to Smith, when Lawrence stumbled onto pavement after hearing motorcycle engines rumbling Saturday night. He said he walked maybe 25 feet on the blacktop before collapsing.

"Man I was happy," he said. "I laid down in that road and just sat there. ... By then I was just wore out."

When passers-by found him, he started waving his hat, begging for help.

Lawrence suffered from dehydration and severe chigger bites, according to Tipton County Deputy Chief Donna Turner. He's on antibiotics to combat the things he digested while he was lost.

After Lawrence's address Wednesday afternoon, he sat down with his family and , clasping his wife Kim's hand, began to cry.